Arthur Hayes' $10,000 Ethereum prediction has one big reason behind it

During a recent interview with CoinDesk, Arthur Hayes said he expects Ethereum to hit $10,000 by the end of the year.

The target is nearly four times Ethereum's current price near $2,700, with the token still trading well below its all-time high.

Asked why he backs Ethereum, Hayes said he can put large amounts of money into it without fearing a sudden 75% loss from an exploit. For him, the appeal comes down to scale and safety rather than short-term momentum.

"I like Ethereum because I can put a large amount of money into it. I'm not worried that I wake up one day that's down 75% because of some exploit," Hayes said.

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Why Ethereum fell behind

During the interview, Hayes addressed Ethereum's underperformance against rivals during parts of the cycle.

He said other blockchains captured specific narratives, pointing to Solana's rise on the back of memecoin trading.

Ethereum, he said, pioneered decentralized computing but became "a victim of its own success," turning slower as challengers picked up the slack.

"There's been blockchains that have captured the narrative. Solana captured the memecoin narrative, right? And so it zoomed higher. Obviously, Ethereum pioneered this whole decentralized computer thing," he further added.